About this time 6:14pm exactly an year ago, Team India was all set for a tricky chase of 274 against Sri Lanka, stage was CWC 2011 and the World Cup was at stake. Few hours ago on the same afternoon, Sri Lanka won the toss an elected to set a target, this was SL’s second consecutive CWC final appearance and they looked desperate to take home the Cup.

Like all Indian Cricket fansI was full of smiles when SL made a slow start and lost both their openers early. However, the joy was cut short as Sri Lankan batting legends Sangakara and Jayawardena took center stage and played responsibly to steady their team, runs kept flowing, odd wickets fell and the last Ten overs went for plenty as Jayawardena brought up an excellent ODI hundred. Sri Lankan fans went delirious as the last ball of the innings went flying over the square leg boundary, my heart rankled. Is this going to end the 2003 way? Are we going to throw away one more brilliant opportunity to win the Cup? were one of the many demons which cropped up in my head ( I guess most fans would have felt the same ).

Indian Innings started and less than 20 minutes into it, SL was on top, Both Sachin and Viru fell cheaply, my fears were coming true. But, thankfully the team of 2011 was far different from the team of 1996 & 2003. Gambhir in good company of Virat steadied the ship. By the time Virat fell India had gone past the 100 mark and we looked very much in command. And then something happened, something none had expected, Dhoni India’s least successful Batsmen in the WC walked ahead of the most successful player of the WC – Yuvraj. But, during that phase Dhoni was the man with ‘Midas touch’ whatever he did turned into gold. His promotion ahead of Yuraj set stone to one of the finest ODI innings in a CWC final. Gambhir after a patient knock went back attempting a maniacal shot However, by then the target was pretty close.

Yuraj walked in and we all knew nothing can go wrong, from that point onwards every stroke confirmed India’s supremacy in the ODI format, Dhoni’s finished the game in his trademark manner, the moment the ball hit his bat we knew where it was going. India had won the CWC after 28 years and that by far is the biggest sporting tournament India had won in its History.

Truly a great day for sports in India simply because it brought great joy for people of India and sport took center stage. It meant many a kids in future will take to sports ( not just Cricket ) because they now have started to believe we can win at the Biggest stage and this day, last year sealed the deal for us.

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seriously tho, the CWC is also memorable for a sad reason. it was not long after this that star yuvraj singh was diagnosed with cancer, and i dont think he was able to play major cricket after that much.

History was so much against India at the beginning of the chase. No nation which had hosted the final had ever won, all the centuries made in a world cup final came from the winning team, every time Jayawardene scored a 100, Sri Lanka won, no team had chased 250+ runs to win a WC, add to that minimum of three nations – Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan were praying for a Lankan win but then this was India’ time, it’s not just the people even gods wanted us to win. This script was written for India, we were destined for glory.

Eight weeks ago when I made my first Vlog, I said, “it’s all about batting for team India “. It was bang on target. And, not to forget my mom, she predicted the victor several weeks ago based on zero cricketing knowledge but she got it 100% right 😀

Going back to match, it started off on a slightly controversial note, toss came under the scanner. Sri Lanka eventually won the toss and elected to bat. At that point I felt the match was 70-30 in Lanka’s favour. However, after first 15 overs game Indian bowlers pulled back the Lankan advantage. Zaheer bowled an unbelievable first spell, runs were hard to come and Tharanga was gone.

Sri Lanka were expected to bounce back, they did. Thanks to some inconsistent bowling by Sreesanth [ pleasantly surprised to see him play the finals ] and Jaya & Sanga’s guile, Lanka slowly and steadily clawed back. Run rate steadily moved up. India did strike at vital junctures, removing Sanga and Samaraweera but failed to get past Jayawardena, he was playing a typical death-by-cut innings. His delicates shots and placements were slicing India’s hope of restricting Lanka for a below par score. Indian bowlers were clearly short of ideas eventually Jaya, along with the lower middle order hammered the Indian bowlers during the batting powerplay to take their team to fantastic 274. In that process Jayawardene scored a brilliant 100, denting India’s chances big time.

During the break, my good friend Arvinth had called. I said the same thing as in my Vlog. It’s all about batting, Team India has always boasted of having the best batting line-up, here’s their chance to prove themselves right. However, I felt India had a mere 40% chance of making it.

When Sehwag and Sachin were trapped early, I felt our chances dipped to 20%. But, Sangakara took it little easy and brought in part time bowlers and allowed the Indian batsmen to consolidate. At 100 for 2, game was back to 50-50. But, soon Virat fell and in walked Dhoni to everyone’s surprise. It made me anxious because he wasn’t in good form and another wicket at that stage of the game would have jeopardized India’s chances. Sangakara made the right moves, he had a slip in place for a long time, he pursued with slip but none of his bowlers were in good rhythm. Murali was struggling, his deliveries were hardly turning. Randhiv was playing for fun, Malinga for some strange reason looked nervous, he didn’t bowl a single yorker. With the bowlers hardly troubling Dhoni and Gambhir, both batsmen gathered runs at will. Required run rate was always under control, it looked like the entire match was on auto pilot mode. However, Gambhir’s sudden rage cost him his wicket, he was out on 97, India needed 50 odd runs to win. Yuraj who was on a high after a series of match winning performances partnered Captain Dhoni to dismantle the Lankan attack, no more twists, no drama, no hiccups. A trademark Dhoni six set of wild celebrations across the nation. At the end India had out classed Lanka with ridiculous ease, they were hardly a threat to India’s strong batting line-up.

The joy and happiness is hard for me to capture in words, that’s the very reason I didn’t know what to write, I still don’t know how to express myself. Big Thanks to Team India for giving us this day, a day which will forever remain in our memories. Thank you, Team India.

Come on, girl..Didn’t we beat Oz and end their decade of world cup supremacy…don’t you think that’s a big enough reason to support any team against India. I’m sure they supported Pakistan during the semi’s..

Finally, after 6 weeks of high octane cricketing action, it all comes down to tomorrow’s final. India takes on Sri Lanka for the Silverware and more importantly a place in World Cup history.

For Sri Lanka, who were the runner-up of the last edition, this game will be their 2nd consecutive shot at glory. Losing Mathews will be a huge setback for them as he’s a brilliant all-rounder and someone who is seen as the next big thing. However, likes of Dilshan, Tharanga, Sanga will look to step it up. Bowling will be a worry for Sri Lanka simply because Muralitharan doesn’t seem to be 100% and rest of their spinners haven’t had too much success against India over the last 15 months. So, there will be lot of pressure on Malinga to deliver, a bad outing might spell doom for Sri Lanka. But, having seen Sri Lankan Cricketers over the years, I’m sure they will put in their best performance.

Strengths: Opening Batsmen, Malinga

Weakness: Fragile middle order

India on the other hand looks decent but, they haven’t improved much over the tournament. Batting collapses, Bowling woes and marginal fielding luckily hasn’t hampered the teams progress, this can be largely attributed to the fact that other teams weren’t doing well, it isn’t India which has raised its standards. Tomorrow, as always a lot will depend on Sachin’s innings, he’s our best batsmen, naturally he needs to come good. India will miss the services of Ashish Nehra which means Ashwin will get to play or Yusuf Pathan might be drafted into the side to reinforce the batting. Whoever plays, it will add some variety to our bowling line up. Team India will have to put in much more than 100% to go past the line, this will be a huge test. Hope for the best.

Strengths: Sachin, Yuvraj

Weakness: Batting flip-flops, Bowling

Mumbai pitch has historically been a slow turner, I won’t be surprised to see the team winning the toss opting to bat first. Any score of 250 and above should be good enough to push for a win. For the team chasing, they would need much more than talent, skill and luck to get there. I strongly believe which ever team bowls well will claim the cup. Also, I feel this won’t be a one sided final as we had in the last three editions. This one could well go down to the wire because none of the teams are playing like gods, it’s all even. Looking forward to the finals, I guess I would have a sleepless night but the unrest is worth it.

Oh yes…Ind-SL have played like 25-30 games over last 2 yrs…most of us touch irritated about tht..coz post the final…there will be plenty to bi-lateral series coming up…guess in next 4 yrs..we both nations might play countless matches..n SL will become integral part of IPL as well..it’s like a long term pact now..fans will be harassed 😀

By tomorrow same time, we will have a new world champion..looking forward to the match.

Finally, after a month long saga, group games concluded with the ICC top 8 making it to the knock out stage. Pakistan finished top of Group A, trouncing Australia effortlessly. Ponting and his men look highly vulnerable, only a miracle can help them retain their trophy. On the other hand toppers, Pakistan pleasantly surprised us with their fielding efforts, I remember they almost messed up a game due to poor fielding. Meantime, Umar Gul is reversing and swinging the ball late, I have never seen any bowler move the white ball in that fashion, his form will be crucial as Pakistan takes on an unpredictable Indies team.

Other qualifiers from Group A are Sri lanka and New Zealand. Both teams have their strengths and disturbing weaknesses. Sri Lanka is over reliant on Sangakara, rest of the batting line up has been scratchy, bowling too has been on-off. New Zealand as always are wild and thrilling, never know which way they would go. New Zealand will take on South Africa, my prediction is either they will blast away the Africans or loose by a huge margin, no scope for a close game.

Group B has remained exciting till the very last league game. However, it was England and Bangladesh who provided the best moments in the last two weeks. Bangla tigers culled England in a dramatic fashion, few days later england who had to win to survive in the CWC, beat an indisciplined WI in a thriller. Meantime, SA destroyed Bangla dreams of making it to the Quarters. Barring a familiar collapse against England, SA has been top of its game throughout the tournament. Their win against India proves that they can handle pressure and pull off victories under tense situations.

India had a very ordinary time. Batting disasters and listless bowling has planted huge doubts in the mind of fans and experts on its chances to win this WC. We are no more the favorites in the tournament. Batting, which was supposedly our stronghold came apart during the powerplay each and every time we batted first. Bowling has been terrible, Harbhajan and Zaheer have hardly done anything noteworthy, If India has to do well at the Knock Stages, these two gentlemen have to come good, now is the time which matters the most. On the brighter side, three Indian Batsmen are going strong. Sachin thundered two centuries [ We didn’t win any of those games though ], Sehwag is at his belligerent best. Yuraj has risen like a Phoenix and reaffirmed the good old saying – Form is temporary, Class is permanent.

For the first time since the 1987 edition, every team from this stage seems to have an equal chance of winning the trophy. All the eight teams have their issues, no one is outstanding, no one looks threatening, no one carries the clout of a world champion. It’s all even. Whichever team plays three good games from here will clinch the cup. I am hoping the big guns will rise to the occasion.

chapell ko chappal maro.. 🙂 i guess the aussies knowthey are not going to win and resorting to tactics like this.. in btw pakistan played really gud against aussies.. hope we will see you in semis.. sufia 🙂 may the best team win.. in btw gud post don 😉

Group A: Before the tournament started, very few would have imagined Pakistan leading the group at the half way mark. Thanks to few outstanding performances by Afridi, they are at the top and undefeated. Australia is a close second, going on expected lines, they would be ruing the bad weather against Sri Lanka which forced them to share points. Sri Lanka on the other hand needs to lift its game, they were shocked by Pakistan. New Zealand is also going strong. Minnows- Kenya, Zimbabwe & Canada haven’t caused much of threat, barring the Pak-Canada game they were mercilessly beaten .

Group B: This is where all the action is taking place. A tied game, couple of upsets ( One was huge ) and few mind blowing centuries. Lot of excitement. Despite poor show by the bowlers, India is aptly topping the group [ The other teams have been highly inconsistent ]. Indian thumped Bangladesh, played out a high scoring tie against England [ that game gave me a mild heart attack 😛 ] and yesterday took out a remarkable bunch of Irishmen. Meantime, South Africa which was expected to top the table started very well but, crashed in yesterday’s game [ no surprise there, only SA can pull off such miracles 😀 ]. England on the other side is playing see-saw. Indies are rocking. Bangladesh are reduced to cats. Netherlands did their bit however, it’s Ireland which set the stage on fire, they produced a thriller against England slamming record runs batting second.

So, at the half way stage it looks like rivals India and Pakistan hold an edge with Australia a close second, trying desperately to hold on their ” World Champions” title. Next couple of weeks may change the table. We’re all set for many more surprises and loads of top class Cricket. I just saw a news piece, it said India has been the most misbehaving team, lot of on-off field altercations, not a happy sight. It’s surprising to see Aussies [ who are largely considered the masters of sledging ] not getting into any ugly scene. Cricket is labeled as ‘ Gentlemen’s game ‘ and I hope teams act more responsibly, especially the hosts.

Trust you enjoying the tournament as well, do write your feedback. In case you aren’t following the world cup, take some time out and cheer your teams, believe me it’s fun.

During the Innings break of today’s Pakistan-Sri Lanka game unlike most days I was scanning other channels. I stopped at WB films. Bruce Lee’s “Enter the dragon” had just started. I have seen this movie few times before, in fact I wanted to give it a miss tonight however, five minutes into it, my mouth was half open, I was stuck. *sheepishly smiling* I could neither move away from my seat nor flip the channel. After the first 30 minutes I had no choice, I was enslaved by this brilliant piece of Cinema.

I was totally hooked to the Television, I some how managed to grab a pouch of potato chips and a large glass of orange juice, that’s all I remember. For the next 1 hour or so, I was teleported into Mr.Han’s Island along with Lee, Williams and Roper. Movie holds such a simple premise, it has been exploited in so many yesteryear Indian movies. Anyways, back to Bruce Lee 🙂

The fire in his eyes, body language and the Qi flowing through his body in those dramatic action sequences, WOW! exhilarating stuff *speechless, in search of superlatives, please help me*. No other Kung-fu star has such a powerful on-screen impact as Lee. Take a bow to Mr.Bruce Lee. *bowing in awe*

awwwwwhhhhhhhhhhh I understand
YOur team provided great entertainment with some variety of fielding bloopers…however, I dun want to spoil this moment ( looks like I have already dampened it )… Chalo…. yyyyaaaaaaaaaayyyy for Pak…………..yaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy for lala

lol…whats new? 😉 why do u think r bowlers r so good at ukharofying wickets? 😉 they have to…they cant rely on the fielders 😀 imagine, how good the bowlers must be 😛 with such fielders, they still got eight out of 10 🙂

Oh yes, Pak is next..always been a big fan of Afridi..glad he will lead the side..
BTW..SL are one of the fav’s.. for tht matter, all 4 sub-continent teams can win this.. so as Brad says..it’s..Go SL! Go!

Of course they can…If they get to QF..jus 3 good games shud do it for them..they have a decent side..remember they thumped NZ..also they being playing well for last 2 yrs..jus d result was going thr way…they no underdogs..they can pull off a coup..lets wait n watch

common … the NZ side wasnt doing too well itself. its not in very good shape and hasnt been for some time. and BD only relies on 1-2 main players, shakib and tamim and some bowler im forgetting who. and like the india of old, once these players go, BD gives up.